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How to maintain Folder date/time stamp?

15-Dec-2017, 07:45 AM

When I do a "update" or "mirror" if there are changes, the target folder date stamp get updated to current date & time. I would think in the "mirror" mode, it will keep the same date and time stamp for the folders (not just the files), but that's not the case. The date/time stamp is getting updated. Is there a way to keep the same date/time stamp for the folder as the source in the mirror mode?

BC4 supports preserving file timestamps, but folder timestamps are updated during the copy or sync. In fact, the folder timestamp is preserved as it is created, but once any items are copied in, the host OS updates the timestamp. This follows OS convention, similar to a Copy using Explorer. Often, folder timestamps will be updated as you interact with your files by the OS. It's on our wishlist to enhance and preserve the timestamp.

Aaron P Scooter Software

Comment

When I do a "update" or "mirror" if there are changes, the target folder date stamp get updated to current date & time. I would think in the "mirror" mode, it will keep the same date and time stamp for the folders (not just the files), but that's not the case. The date/time stamp is getting updated. Is there a way to keep the same date/time stamp for the folder as the source in the mirror mode?

Today, I tried to find a workaround to the SYNCHRONIZE -> MIRROR steps not setting the target folder date/time to the source date/time. Folder dates are very important to me because I have over 20,000 folders on my Project Data drive with versions of folders by the same name. So, the date the folder was created is critical. It takes more than 24hrs on an i7 64GB to Touch all those folders.

MY FIX:
1 - In the FOLDER COMPARE main window, select folders on the SOURCE SIDE to duplicate to the TARGET side (RIGHT SIDE for me and this example).
2 - Do SYNCHRONIZE -> MIRROR on the folder (can be all top level folders or just the ones you need).
3 - Click the FILTERS button tool to open the SESSION SETTINGS window to the NAME FILTERS tab.
4 - Type in "*.*" (without the quotes) under EXCLUDE FILES. This will ignore all regular files and just show folders, including sub-folders. Add to PRESETS to name and save this filter for future use. If you don't want save, you can just type "-*.*" (without the quotes) in the Filters entry field on the main FOLDER COMPARE main window instead of using the FILTERS button
5 - Select all the top-level folders on the TARGET side (RIGHT side) of the FOLDER COMPARE main window.
6 - Right-click on any of the selected folders and choose TOUCH to open the TOUCH window.
7 - Check-on INCLUDING FOLDER CONTENTS so that sub-folders get TOUCHed.
8 - Choose the radio button for COPY TIMESTAMPS FROM OTHER SIDE
9 - Click the Start Button. My 20,000+ folders all got the date/time values updated in less than a minute or two.
I suggest doing a test on a small folder, multiple sub-folder and multiple file example to make sure it works for you.

So, to summarize, do Mirror on folders and files, set filter to show just folders, and then do touch on those visible folders.

**Note: I have not thought about, or tested, how this fix will work for SYNCHRONIZE -> UPDATE since I haven't used that command since doing the fix. The only question for UPDATE is whether, or not, UPDATE transfers the date/time for files (my memory tells me it does). If it does transfer file date/time, then this fix will work fine following SYNCHRONIZE -> UPDATE, too.**

Comment

Sync Mirror, Update, or a manual copy will function similarly, controlling what items are transferred but not how folder timestamps are handled. If a folder is part of the copy and an item inside of it is included, then the folder timestamp updates when that file comes over.

And, yes, it is a good workaround to set filters to exclude all files and Always Show Folders, so you can select only the folders, and manually override the Last Modified Timestamps of the folders.